There are many individuals on the market who aren’t a giant fan of turkey. Whether or not it isn’t your most popular poultry otherwise you’re simply searching for a smaller hen to serve, there are many options to select from. A rooster is usually a show-stopper when seasoned and roasted appropriately, whereas numerous duck preparations could make the desk really feel a bit of extra particular. If there are solely two or three individuals to prepare dinner for, think about making even tinier birds, like quail or Cornish hens, which is able to give every visitor a scrumptious hen of their very own. The very best half about a few of these birds is that they take a lot much less time to organize than the normal turkey. So whether or not you wish to tackle a minimal effort hen or a huge duck mission, these are 14 of our favourite recipes for birds that aren’t turkey.

Hen

Spatchcocked (Butterflied) Roast Hen With Fast Jus

A superbly cooked rooster will be tough—the rooster legs want to succeed in a temperature of 175°F (80°C), however the breast dries out if cooked past 150°F (66°C) or so. The answer? Spatchcocking your hen. By doing so, the rooster legs are uncovered to the next warmth, which helps them prepare dinner sooner than the breast, leaving you with juicy meat and crispy pores and skin. Right here, we rub the rooster with a mix of contemporary herbs earlier than roasting, then whip up a fast jus for serving.

Roasted Hen With Basic or Curry Soubise (Onion Sauce)

This roast rooster is paired with a easy French onion sauce for a chic contact. Although soubise is historically made with a béchamel base, we subbed in cream for a lighter take. For added depth of taste, we additionally attain for curry powder or vadouvan, a French kind of curry powder with garlic and shallots.

Italian Roast Hen Below a Brick (Pollo al Mattone)

Roasting or grilling your rooster beneath one thing heavy, like a brick, is among the finest methods to get crispy pores and skin shortly. Should you don’t have any bricks readily available, you should use something from a forged iron skillet to an Italian rooster press. Begin off by spatchcocking your hen, then marinate it in a easy mix that features rosemary, sage, garlic, and olive oil earlier than cooking.

Soy Sauce Hen With Cola

Should you’re already eliminating the turkey side of Thanksgiving, why not take it a step additional and go Cantonese model? This soy sauce rooster is a basic Cantonese dish with a twist—our recipe makes use of Coca-Cola instead of conventional substances like rock sugar and sun-dried tangerines, which will be troublesome to supply within the US. The soda gives candy, tangy, and caramel-like notes that play properly with the opposite substances—ginger, star anise, cinnamon, and white pepper. Serve over steamed rice for an unconventional however scrumptious Thanksgiving dinner.

Cornish Hen

Grilled Cornish Hens with Lemon and Rosemary

In case your grill remains to be in fee, it’s value getting on the market and throwing some Cornish hens on the hearth. Due to their small dimension, they end cooking by means of simply as their pores and skin reaches most crispiness—as long as you spatchcock them. On this recipe, we enhance the flavour of the hen with a lemon and rosemary rub. The result’s an excellent flavorful Cornish hen with tender, juicy meat.

Cornish Sport Hens with Prosciutto and Rosemary with White Beans

This recipe for Cornish hens contains prosciutto for an Italian twist. We begin by rubbing the birds with garlic, olive oil, and rosemary, then wrap it in prosciutto di Parma. Because it cooks, the pores and skin bubbles up and the prosciutto crisps right into a salty shell. The juices of the hen make the right cooking liquid for white beans, a easy and scrumptious aspect.

Duck

Duck à l’Orange

Although cooking duck requires extra consideration than roasting a rooster, the result’s a young, juicy hen that feels a bit of extra particular. This basic French recipe produces a duck with crispy, crackling pores and skin (due to a dry-brine) doused in a candy and bitter sauce often known as sauce bigarade. By roasting the duck trimmings with fragrant greens, the greens can then be utilized in a inventory that may later turn out to be included into the sauce. When making the sauce, attain for bitter oranges if yow will discover them; they make the dish extra fragrant and provides it a extra advanced taste.

Pan-Seared Duck Breast

Cooking a duck breast at house requires minimal effort. You’ll wish to begin by scoring the pores and skin so the fats renders shortly. Then, prepare dinner the duck breast low and gradual, giving the fats extra time to render whereas the meat turns into tender and juicy. As soon as the duck has completed cooking, the browned bits left within the pan can simply be became a pan sauce with the assistance of some rooster inventory and orange juice and zest.

Dry-Aged Roast Duck Breast

Should you’ve determined to dry-age a duck, it’s value exhibiting it off with this roast duck breast preparation. By roasting the duck crowns shortly beneath excessive warmth, the meat stays moist and tender with out drying out, whereas the dry pores and skin browns superbly. The trick right here is to tug the duck out of the oven earlier than it reaches its goal inner temperature to keep away from overcooking, permitting carryover cooking to do the remainder of the work. After carving, spoon our pink wine duck jus over the meat for a show-stopping end.

Conventional Duck Confit

Regardless of its French identify, this duck preparation is not as intimidating because it sounds. The basic preparation begins by curing duck legs for twenty-four hours with salt, black pepper, thyme, and a mix of shallots, onion, garlic, and parsley. (Be sure to softly rinse off the remedy earlier than cooking.) The duck legs are then submerged within the fats and cooked in a low oven till tender and silky. As a result of the duck fats acts as a protecting seal, the duck legs will be saved for a minimum of a month after cooking, making early Thanksgiving prep a straightforward possibility.

Sous Vide Duck Confit

Making duck confit sous vide eliminates the necessity for buckets of rendered fats—the small quantity that renders within the vacuum-sealed bag is simply sufficient. Depart the sealed duck in a water bathtub for 36 hours; with the exact temperature management that sous vide cooking permits for, it’s simple for the meat to attain a silky, fork-tender texture. When able to serve, take away duck from the bag and roast or broil till the pores and skin is browned and crispy.

Koji Duck Confit

This recipe is just like our conventional duck confit, however makes use of funky shio koji for the remedy. It’s slathered on the duck legs together with black peppercorns and star anise, imparting an intensely savory taste with a contact of sweetness, due to the pure sugars from the koji kin. These sugars additionally assist the meat type a golden brown coloration when crisped up. After the remedy is rinsed off, the duck legs are submerged in fats and cooked within the oven till tender.

Quail

Pan-Roasted Quail With Plum Pan Sauce

The very best half about choosing quail is that it cooks shortly and it’s virtually foolproof. Comply with our steps for deboning and spatchcocking the quail, then season and sear it. The hen will be served medium-rare, medium, and even well-done. For a last contact, we pair the quail with a fast and chic plum sauce simmered with shallot, thyme, honey, and butter.

Goose

Crisp-Skinned Roast Goose and Gravy

Should you merely desire a hen that isn’t turkey, no matter its dimension, strive your hand at roasting a goose. Although the hen tends to lean on the pricier aspect, it’s an awesome various for individuals who love wealthy, juicy darkish meat. The important thing to a roast goose that’s moist and flavorful is rendering the hen’s fats correctly. We obtain this right here by pricking the pores and skin and blanching the goose earlier than roasting. Moreover, we dry-brine the hen in a mix of kosher salt and baking powder to make sure tender meat and extra-crispy pores and skin. Serve with gravy and luxuriate in on Thanksgiving day, and some days after, too.

November 2020